Midnight Dragon
by wynterarrow
Summary: Roy Mustang's long wondered who his biological parents are. Now that he's settled down in Amestris, content with his rank of Brigadier-General, content with Riza by his side, he's just finding out who he really was. T for violence. On Hiatus.


**Author's Note: **At first this story might seem kinda irrelevant to FMA, but actually it's telling the past of a certain brigadier general (cough, cough.) I don't really have a pairing planned for this story, so suggestions would be welcome. Some of the 'Xingese' names might be Japanese—I was too lazy to actually get some cool-sounding Chinese names off the Internet. Is Xing based off of China, anyways?

CHAPTIRE ONE: XING

"Capture him. Return him to me dead or alive!"

The order fell faintly upon the warrior's ears, and he knew that the General had discovered he was still alive. So much for trying to keep my survival a secret, the man thought wryly.

Rei was one of the only survivors of the war the Ching Clan had waged upon the Liang Clan.

General Konan, the leader of the Ching Clan, had declared war without warning. General Guiren's efforts to defeat him in battle were valiant, but at the last moment reinforcements from mercenaries Konan hired overran the battlefield. Guiren himself had sacrificed his life to save a group of wounded soldiers.

Konan had ordered his army to head to their palace and capture anyone there. Lady Yue, Guiren's wife, and her young son were in danger. Rei had to warn them—but he had been discovered.

He assessed the situation. General Konan had five highly trained assassins, and he doubted that he could fight them all off—the wound through his leg had bled more than he had expected. The palace lay to the north, just a few more yards and he would reach the service tunnels to get in. Konan and his soldiers were somewhere to the east only about a yard away.

The sound of baying dogs filled the air, and he stiffened. The bloodhounds would find him easily, and he had to move quickly. He crouched, careful not to let the grass stir too much, and jumped. Surprisingly enough, his leg held up, and he sprang like a bird from wall to wall.

The moonlight was patchy, but he still hid in the shadows to limit detection. The next building was clear, and he was about to jump when he heard the sound of fabric against skin. He froze, his muscles screaming in silent protest. He strained to hear the tell-tale rasp of metal, and a second later, he caught a flicker of movement out of the corner of his eye.

Immediately he whirled about-face and lashed out with his heel. The masked assassin barely dodged the blow as Rei's foot came within an inch of breaking of his nose. The man struck back, a steel star whipping through the air. The warrior had no choice but to fall, then hook his legs around the metal bar protruding from the side of the building. Rei's world tilted upside down, the cool rush of air ruffling his hair. Sharp pain knifed through his leg, but he pulled himself back up. The assassin glanced at him, then spun around as Rei wrenched the star from his grasp and drove it up through his heart. He died without a single word, but as the warrior turned to flee, he realized his mistake.

The assassin still held a grenade in his limp hand, and the ring attached to the pin had been pulled. Rei's eyes widened, and he quickly jumped to the neighboring building, exposing himself to anyone else who might have been on the rooftops. A huge explosion ripped through the night air, the ugly red-brown of smoke and fire raging through the building. His ears were ringing with the blast, and he was slightly dazed. The other assassins were sure to have noticed where he was going, and he had to move fast.

He made a quick detour by swinging through a broken window, narrowly grazing his shoulder on a jagged piece of piece. The slight scratch was nothing, and he forged ahead, careful not to tread on the weak areas of the floor. He could see the palace from where he was, and he could afford to stop. He forced his breathing to slow down, and he quickly slumped behind a chipped desk and gripped his injured leg tightly, stuffing a piece of fabric into his mouth to muffle any whimpers. The hot waves of pain slowly subsided, and he relaxed and let his muscles accept the temporary relief.

It was one of Konan's henchmen down, four more to go. He had to warn the Lady and her child, his mind told him urgently. He gripped his leg again and bit down tightly on the fabric as he squeezed his eyes shut, wishing for the pain to go away. Any attempt to heal his leg with alkahestry would light up the building like a beacon, and he would be caught. His mind wandered away from the pain in an effort to distract himself, and he remembered Guiren's last words.

"_Protect my child and my wife. Get them somewhere safe, somewhere they can live in peace. This is my last order to you, Rei. Keep—them—safe." _General Guiren's intense dark blue eyes locked with Rei's own evergreen eyes, and the young warrior had swallowed and nodded.

The general's grip on his hand relaxed, and the Midnight Dragon of the battlefield had died knowing that his son and wife would be safe.

For the next couple of minutes Rei drifted in and out of a fevered daze, thinking he was still on the battlefield. A sudden bang and a bright flash of white light half-roused him out of his shock, and he wearily crawled out from the desk and peered out the window. Someone had triggered a flash bomb, and he realized that it might have blinded all of the assassins that were looking for him outside.

A fresh wave of adrenaline washed through his mind as he realized someone might be out there, aiding him in his promise to his friend. As he spat out the useless piece of fabric and stuffed it into a drawer, he ran through a list of the possible warriors. Kei might have helped—he could have been there when Kongming was dying. Yuki was probably preoccupied with keeping the ranks together, but she could have listened to him too.

He remembered that their army had suffered heavy casualties, but Guiren had been the most courageous of them all on the battlefield. Konan had been a coward, crouched behind his own lines of soldiers ready to fight to their deaths.

Rei felt a gust of cold wind hit his face, reminding him he should have been going. He jumped down lightly, touching the ground with his hand to break his fall. A bronze disk just barely wide enough for his torso to fit in materialized under his hand, and he shoved it out of the way as he put his good leg on the first rung of the tunnel. He dragged the disk back over the hole, shutting himself into complete darkness.

After a few meters down, claustrophobia started setting in, and Rei breathed in deeply and forced himself to keep going. The tunnel seemed to be getting smaller, but he finally put both hands on either side of the ladder and slid down. For a single terrifying moment it seemed as though he was going to get stuck, but at the last second his feet made contact with the ground and Rei buckled to his knees, hoping that nothing had broken. His leg felt like it was broken again, and he winced as he limped on.

Torches eventually came into view, slightly blinding him. He blinked away the spots in his eyes and wrenched a torch out of the setting, holding it above his head. He was in a circular room, with a sun painted on the floor and set with marble. He recognized the sun—it was an alkahestry term, and it meant that the flow of chi was blocked in this room—which meant he couldn't heal his leg.

The ceiling was domed, and the tunnel was right in the center where the arches met. It gave off a quite ethereal feeling, and Rei felt shivers run up his spine. He stamped his injured leg a little to let the pain sharpen his senses, then he looked around. A single door lay in front of him, and without delay he threw it open and continued upward.

It wasn't long before he met someone. A shapely figure clothed entirely in black was standing in front of him, jet-black hair and obsidian eyes gleaming in the torchlight. Her almond shaped eyes narrowed for a second, then there was a blur. Before he could draw a knife, a hand came down hard on his chest. All the breath in his lungs was punched out, and he coughed violently. He crumpled to his knees, gasping for air. When he caught his breath, he felt a slight twinge under his chin. The girl held a knife to his throat, and a second blade to his spine.

Rei swallowed; he recognized her. She was a first-class assassin who had trained with him in the palace, trained by Guiren himself. Daiyu had always intimidated him a little, and she never spoke to anyone. She'd seen him while they were training together, but now she didn't give a single hint that she recognized him. Her eyes did nothing to betray her emotions, but a flicker of doubt ran across her features. She tapped the blade against his neck and said in a colorless voice, "Drop the torch. You have two seconds before I cut your throat." It was the first time he heard her speak.

He relinquished his grip on the wood and watched his light source flare once, then go out. "Rei Lan of the Yuanlin Clan. I have a warning to deliver, Daiyu. Let me go."

She kept the knife at his throat and he winced, feeling the blade pressing uncomfortably close against his windpipe. She moved behind him. "Stand up. Don't try anything."

Rei awkwardly got to his feet, and she steered him towards a wooden door with an iron grip. He continued forward and up a series of steps before he finally stepped into a room richly decorated with tapestries, but oddly enough it didn't have a single piece of furniture in it.

"To your left." Daiyu's eyes narrowed again.

"You don't seem surprised to see me."

"The war is over. There must have been a messenger sent ahead of our armies. Lady Yue has ordered me to keep a watch on the tunnels. Konan will do anything to stop that messenger."

"You don't think that Lady Yue's decision to trust me was wise, do you?" He allowed a wry smirk to grace his mouth. "I don't blame you. I wouldn't have liked it either."

"Lady Yue's exceptional… _talent _at star gazing has been highly regarded by the elders. I thought it best to do as she asked."

"And what of her son?"

"What does this have to do with your supposed message?" She was suddenly wary, but the pressure on the blade didn't change. She seemed to change her mind. "Never mind. Go ahead." They stopped in front of a mahogany door. A beautiful obsidian dragon was set over the top, and the handle was gilded with gold. Rei opened a door and stepped in.

"Hello, Rei. Welcome back. Daiyu, I would be much obliged if you put the knife away."

It was Lady Yue. She was dressed in a white gown, a beautiful hairpiece wound into her thick, luxurious hair. What was strange was that the room's ceiling was made purely of glass, with only thin steel rods to support the center. Even then, the stars were clear, and the scene was strangely enchanting.

Lady Yue strode toward the both of them, took a look at Rei's wounded leg, and paled. "There is something wrong, isn't there?"

Rei shook his head. "Lady Yue, please don't worry about me."

"How can I leave—"

"You are in danger. Konan has defeated our armies. He is heading in this very direction the moment we speak. You must go."

Daiyu frowned at Rei's lack of manners, but Yue obviously didn't care. Her eyes widened, and she gasped. "What… of my husband?"

Rei bowed his head. "He has gone on."

Lady Yue's silvery eyes searched his face desperately. "Is… this true? Are you sure?"

"I was there," Rei confirmed. "I am sorry." He shifted uncomfortably, then knelt. "It should have been me," he said, suddenly ashamed of himself.

Yue's beautiful features were twisted with horror and grief. "No, no… It was courageous of my Guiren. But my child… Li… he will be raised without a father."

"Lady Yue, Konan is almost here. We must leave with your son."

"But—" Yue looked at Rei, her face pale but tearless.

Daiyu was the one who objected. "Lady Yue." Her voice was quiet, which had a strangely calming effect on Lady Yue. "Rei Lan is right. Forgive me for saying so, but wouldn't Lord Guiren's sacrifice be in vain if you and your son did not escape alive?"

Yue's face went a shade whiter, but she regained composure. "Of… of course." She straightened, all traces of disbelief gone from her features. She snapped her fingers, and instantly the glass roof darkened. "Sit," she told Rei.

He did so. In a flash of alchemy, Daiyu healed his leg and bound it loosely with black bandages. "You are lucky it did not get infected."

"It might have. I've gone twenty hours with this wound without antiseptic or any available alkahestry." He shifted his leg, and to his surprise any stiffness that indicated infection wasn't present. "Where's Lady Yue?"

"Here. I've alerted the castle; all of them are evacuating to the Yuanlin Clan. Thank you, Rei. Without you with us, all of us would have certainly been captured."

She was now dressed in the same outfit as Daiyu, and an elaborate sword was strapped to her back. Her chestnut hair was let down from its hairpiece, and instead was pulled back into a ponytail. "I'll get my son from the next room."

Rei stared at Lady Yue, but Daiyu shot a look at him. "Oh… of course."

The three exited the room, and before Yue could lay a single hand on the door handle, a huge explosion rocked the entire castle on its supports. Lady Yue threw open the door, her features suddenly fearful, and ran to her son's side. The child was sleeping, and she hurriedly threw a jacket over him, and wrapped him in a fine Xingese blanket. "Let's go! The fastest way out of here is through the tunnels. We'll take horses. Rei, take care of that, and head back to the service tunnels. Daiyu, come with me."

Rei nodded and ran off to the stables. He pushed through empty kitchens, a couple of rooms, and down three flights of stairs before the saw the outside of the palace.

One part of him dreaded going back out there, but he shook the feeling off and hurried outside. No one was in sight, but he saw the torchlight reflecting off the walls. Another explosion rang through the air, but he slipped into the stables, unlatching the gate and striking a single match. Six horses tossed their heads fretfully, powerful hooves pounding the straw into the dirt. One whinnied and pawed at the door, while the others' ears were darting back and forth nervously.

"Come," he coaxed the first horse. It was a fine black stallion, bred for endurance, and more importantly, for the desert. Its coat gleamed in the dim light, and it shied back. Gradually it calmed down enough for him to saddle it, and he gathered two more horses, both mares and both a dull gray.

He led the horses around the stable and down the tunnel. Their heads brushed the ceiling, but thankfully the horses didn't bolt.

Lady Yue and Daiyu were waiting. The two women slung packs over each horse.

"Thank you."

Rei blushed, suddenly nervous in front of the beautiful, stately lady. "It was nothing." He seated himself on a gray horse, and while Daiyu chose the other mare.

Lady Yue hadn't just caught Guiren's eye just for her looks. She swung herself up onto the saddle with no effort at all, her son strapped safely to the grip.

With a twitch of the reins, the horses padded off silently into the night air, and Rei hoped they would escape with no interference.

They had no such luck.

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